The Bank of Ghana (BoG) wants the Right to Information Bill to be further amended so that some sensitive information that could compromise Ghana’s financial system is not released to the public.

A. Ranking Member of the Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee of Parliament, Inusah Fuseini, made the allegation in a Citi News interview.

He said the Bank of Ghana (BoG) has asked Parliament to consider an amendment of the RTI Bill that will restrict the flow of crucial financial information to the public.

“The central bank was coming with an amendment and the amendment was to the effect that information that will reasonably affect the stability of the financial system… that information should not be granted because the granting of that information could prejudice and damage the financial system.”

As an example of the BoG’s concerns, the MP noted that, “when the Bank of Ghana is to take a decision or a measure and somebody hears of the measure but the measure has not come into force yet and applies under the act to access that information.”

These comments follow Parliament’s approval of an amendment to the RTI Bill that extends the time for its operationalization after it has been passed.
The amendment states that the Bill takes effect the following year after it has been passed.

Mr. Fuseini told Citi News the House has taken note of the request from the Central Bank.

The House is yet to pass the entire Bill which has been the subject which has been treated with renewed urgency by MPs after public pressure.

The RTI Bill has been in Parliament for close to two decades but is yet to be passed despite calls from the media and civil society groups.

The passage of the Bill has delayed in recent times because of contentions over whether to operationalise it within 12 months or as soon as it is passed into law.